Few sights are as somber as a lake that has completely dried up. It's almost as if it's instinctive for humans to see where water is supposed to be and have an expectation to see it. And, seeing a lake dried up has a way of stirring feelings of depression that feel like just as much of a natural reflex. However, in many of the more arid regions of our planets, there are a number of lakes that spend the majority of the year dry and dusty before they finally refill. Of these lakes is Kati Thandra-Lake Eyre, a 3,700-square-mile lake in South Australia. Because it's so shallow, it doesn't take long for floodwaters to fill it back up.
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy were on hand one year to capture a spectacular event. It is an amazing and quite beautiful show of nature's forces at work.
Even more amazing than seeing a lake suddenly return to the desert is the distance these floodwaters had to travel to get there. According to the video's description, the water traveled nearly 1,000 kilometers, or a little over 600 miles, to re-fill the lake once again. It does this by flowing down a river system known as the Diamantina-Warburton.
Because this part of Australia has such a hot, and arid climate, it is not uncommon for that river to run extremely low too. In some droughts, it has only been a few inches deep at most. Amazingly, this lake sits nearly 50 feet below sea level, which means it is one of the few places for the water to flow. Just imagine what a relief this must be for all the wildlife in the area every year when the waters return.
Like many lakes of this nature in Australia, this lake can sometimes have high salinity levels, which sometimes cause it to turn as pink as bubble gum. This truly helps make Kati Thandra-Lake Eyre one of a kind when it comes to Australia's many fascinating salt lakes.
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